


Conventions of the Heart

by JazzRaft



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 20:39:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17815121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JazzRaft/pseuds/JazzRaft
Summary: They both know they don't have to get each other a gift. They both know it's not a big deal. What neither of them know, is how each of them are panicking at the last minute to find each other a gift.





	Conventions of the Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aithilin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aithilin/gifts).



> Another late Valentine's Day fic fill from [here!](http://jazzraft.tumblr.com/post/182852435307/imagine-nyx-trying-to-find-the-perfect-gift-for) It might be belated, but I couldn't let this holiday go past without my obligatory nyxnoct fluff fic for it!

Nyx stood in the middle of the aisle, staring at the shelves…

Stressing about everything on said shelves… And sweating over everything _not_ on said shelves…

What if what he really wanted wasn’t there? How would he know he wanted it if he couldn’t see it right in front of him? How the hell did he do this all the times he gave someone a gift before?

He wasn’t usually so bad at it.

He was usually really, _really_ _good_ at intuiting what sort of gifts might surprise people, without ever needing to ask them what they wanted. Crowe called it his superpower whenever he blindsided her with something on her birthday, or accused him of witchcraft, or – more commonly – of rooting through confidential Kingsglaive files for privileged information.

The fact that Crowe liked motorcycles was not privileged information. Nor was assuming she might then enjoy certain accessories for it in any way supernatural. Nyx just paid attention. Observation was a huge part of his job, it was only natural that it fell over into his off-duty hours. He’d never had a problem with finding the perfect gift for friends, family, or any of his romantic partners.

Why then, all of a sudden, was it so hard to find something for Noctis?

Nyx kept staring at those damn shelves, waiting for one of the commercially cute caricatures of hearts shaped into cheap cardboard boxes and helium balloons to leap out at him. There were chocolate boxes, stuffed animals, novelty coffee cups, and plenty more goofy little items that Noctis would probably get a kick out of.

It should have been easy. Noctis was the most low maintenance lover Nyx had ever shared his heart with. Aside from his picky eating habits and aversion to cognizance in the mornings, he didn’t ask for anything to maintain his affection. They’d been together for a little while now, long enough to gauge each other’s likes and dislikes, their ticks and habits, their patterns and preferences.

Neither of them were very material people. They didn’t depend on objects to boost the view of their relationship any higher. Noctis wouldn’t be heartbroken if he didn’t get him anything… It was just a commercial holiday, contrived by Insomnia’s ravenous industry… It didn’t mean anything… They didn’t even make plans to celebrate…

_You’re over-thinking this_ , he tried to convince himself. He tried to tell himself that he was just buying into all these guilt-tripping department store signs. And he tried to shake the thought that Noctis was unique from anyone else he’d been with because he was the freaking Crown Prince of Lucis. None of these cheap souvenirs would be worthy of him, anyway.

Nyx stuffed his hands in his pockets, glancing from side to side at the other distressed fools gathered in the aisle around him. Suddenly feeling stupid and self-conscious, Nyx ducked out of the store, empty-handed.

Maybe he’d find a gift befitting a prince in a different dollar store.

* * *

Noctis couldn’t contain his anxiety. It was making his fingers twitch, his knee bounce incessantly against the couch, and his eyes ache the longer he stared at the screens he surrounded himself with.

Or it was the coffee doing him in. He was on cup who-knows-what, desperately guzzling caffeine in the hopes it would ignite an idea in his brain.

Every device he owned was scattered around him in a chaotic halo on the couch. His phone was open to a series of frantic texts fired off to Crowe and Libertus, pleading for hints as to what Nyx might like for a gift. His laptop juggled against his thighs, dozens of tabs open to online retailers that provided express shipping. He could have any item arrive at his apartment within an hour of clicking through checkout. And he couldn’t decide on a single one to put in the cart.

“Shit,” he cursed at the quiet apartment, ripping his hands back and forth through his hair.

He had to get Nyx something. He had a bank account the size of a small country’s treasury; what would it say about him if he was the only guy in the city who didn’t use it to get his boyfriend something nice on this damn holiday?

It had been a long time since he even had a boyfriend, let alone one that didn’t expire before this particular date. All of his attempts in the past had been so full of expectations, and trepidation over getting everything just right. But even his best efforts hadn’t been enough to make things last. At least, not nearly as long as things were lasting with Nyx.

Noctis pressed a fist to his mouth, biting his knuckles as he stared at the computer screen. His brain was a blank, even with the text suggestions from Nyx’s friends. Libertus had said that Nyx wouldn’t care if he got him nothing at all, and the longer Noctis scrolled without finding anything that screamed to him, the more he was considering giving up.

Was that awful of him? When price tags were no object? When he had all the means to spoil his boyfriend should he just _choose_ something to do it with?

Noctis finally slammed the laptop shut and tossed it on the cushion next to him, hanging his head in his hands and groaning. There was no one there to hear him. Ignis was out, possibly with a paramour of his own, actually enjoying the holiday rather than dreading it. Noctis _wished_ he had his friend’s grace, and calm, and sensitivity for the finer romantic gestures.

“You don’t have to get him anything,” Noctis told himself, out loud, in the hopes that hearing it might help convince him. “He won’t be upset…”

It didn’t matter anyway. It was too late to make a choice. In his panic, he’d lost track of time. His phone rang with another text message. Nyx was on his way over.

_“Damn.”_

* * *

“Damnit.”

He should have gotten something. Even if it was just a miniature bear with heart-shaped paw-prints. Even if it was just something stupid that Noctis would drop in a box and forget about in a month. Instead, all he had was a bag of take-out and one long elevator ride of regret.

It was not long enough. The doors hissed open to the Prince’s suite in a hurry, as if they were eager to welcome Nyx’s shame. Nyx took a long, bracing breath – in part to prolong crossing the threshold for even the slightest bit longer – then coached his feet into the apartment.

Everything would be fine. Noctis might have been royalty, but he was still _Noctis._ He was still kind, and honest, and easy-going. They’d planned for a date night in. Just the two of them. Neither of them made any hints about gifts. He wasn’t expecting a gift... Gods, how was he going to make it up to him if he was expecting a gift?

Nyx found Noctis in the living room, in the middle of furiously tidying the place up. He was shoving tablets and laptops into drawers under the TV, gathering stained coffee supplies – a cup, spoon, sugar packets, and an empty milk carton – in the crook of his elbow, and pounding couch pillows back into evenly fluffed order. Nyx cleared his throat to get his attention, and the poor boy actually squeaked in fright, jumping like a startled cat in the middle of the room.

“Hi!” Noctis greeted him in a high voice, plastering on a smile. “You’re early!”

He wasn’t – he was actually late – but Nyx just gulped down his nerves, nodded, and said, “Sure.”

They stood on either side of the living room, Nyx with a bag of food that felt heavier and heavier by the second, Noctis with an armful of garbage that he was hugging to his chest like he needed it for comfort. A long, painful pause droned between them, and since Nyx knew he was the one that made a mistake, he manned up to brave it first.

“Um, happy V – “

“I didn’t get you anything!” Noctis blurted.

They both froze, like two anaks trapped in headlights in both lanes of the road. Panic rushed red in Noct’s face, nervously fisting ripped sugar packets in his hand. He bumbled through an explanation while Nyx tried to catch up with him.

“I, uh, was going to get you something, I mean. I just, um… I didn’t forget! I swear! I wasn’t sure what to get you so, I, um…”

He stared at the garbage in his arms like he just noticed it was there, brows coming together beneath the tangles of his bangs. Maybe the right answer was in the nutrition facts on the milk carton. It wasn’t. Instead, it was in Nyx’s sheepish, subdued response.

“I… didn’t get you anything, either.” Nyx rubbed the back of his neck, an embarrassed flush of sweat beading beneath his hair. He lifted the take-out bag. “I got you noodles. From your favorite place. It’s not enough, I know that. I don’t know. I should have gotten you something…”

Noctis set his garbage on the coffee table, freeing up his hands to hold onto Nyx’s. He mentally slapped himself for how sweaty his palms were. But he powered through the unromantic inconvenience, and held fast, cupping the hand holding the take-out bag.

“It’s enough,” he insisted, tugging on a smile. “That’s all I really wanted. To spend the day with you, I mean.”

“Same here.”

The sting of the silence started to soften, slow smiles exchanged between them as the ridiculousness of failing to surprise each other became less devastating, and more stupid. Nyx snorted, shaking his head. “This holiday, huh? Gets in your head.”

“You too?”

“Like you wouldn’t _believe._ ”

Noctis chuckled, leaning up to catch a quick kiss as he stole the food from Nyx’s grasp. “How ‘bout we sit down and you can tell me all about it.”

As they sat slurping noodles for the rest of the night, snuggling on the couch with old movies running in the background, the most they surprised each other was with how mutually horrified they’d been at _not_ surprising each other with a gift. How they’d fallen into the trap of convention, convincing themselves that they weren’t doing enough if they weren’t buying a heart from a store.

But Noctis had been right. Warm noodles, bad movies, and a quiet night spent kissing on the couch, was more than enough.


End file.
